Thanks to everyone who came out to Schulers last night! I hope you all enjoyed yourself. Thanks also to the staff at the store, particularly Emily, who did the planning and prep work.

I’m told they ordered 50 copies of Red Hood’s Revenge. By the end of the night, I believe there were two left. Booksignings can be hit or miss, but I’m counting this one as a solid win. As always, it was a bit of a blur, but here are some of the things I remember:

1. Jim C. Hines, demonstrating his professional writing skills, attempts to spell Linda’s name with a “Th”. Sigh.

2. Seeing my parents pick up the book for the first time, and their reactions when they discovered I had dedicated it to them. (Followed by Emily’s comment, “And you’re making them buy their own copy???”)

3. The following exchange:

“Can you sign these for charity?”
Jim: “Sure! So you just want an autograph, then? No dedication?”
“Um … I was kind of hoping you could sign them to me, Charity.”
Jim: “D’oh!”

4. My son coming up to sit on my lap at the end of the night and announcing “I want to sign a book!”

5. Seeing everyone — friends, coworkers, family, and strangers — who came out to hear me read and get a book signed. (Or maybe just to eat pizza.)

Someday I’ll learn how to balance wanting to talk to everyone with the need to keep the line moving. Still working on that…

The downside to the evening was coming home and banning someone from my LiveJournal. Much as I enjoyed the booksigning, I’m still an introvert. I can be “on” for an event, but leaves me drained afterward, and I just didn’t have the sporks to deal with this person.

I suppose I should be grateful that the False Reporting post was ban-free for the first 200 comments, but I still hate doing it.

But enough of that. The signing was a blast, and we sold the heck out of my books, so I’m gonna hold on to that feeling. Dr. Phil, who braved thunderstorms to drive out from Kalamazoo, posted a few pictures of the event. I like the “reading faces” one 🙂

And because I haven’t done one in a little while, here’s a LEGO pic for the Futurama fans. Behold the World of Tomorrow, by Pepa Quin. Click here or on the photo for the full collection.